


Tam's Cats

by Cassandra14



Series: Two Universes Over [14]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26056276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassandra14/pseuds/Cassandra14
Summary: Lemurs and sky bison Korra expected. Cats? Not so much.
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Tenzin
Series: Two Universes Over [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/61893
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	Tam's Cats

Korra yawned. She fidgeted, legs shifting as she tried to find a more comfortable seat. Failing, she opened one eye to look about.

To all appearances, Tenzin and his three Airbending children had reached a meditative state. Like Korra, they rested in a lotus position. The dawn's light caught the oranges and yellows of their outfits. Korra squashed the urge to giggle as a stray sunbeam bounced off Tenzin's bald head.

"Korra?" intoned Tenzin abruptly, causing her to twitch and both eyelids to jerk open.

"I'm trying," Korra whined. Her knee itched. She scratched, saying, "I'm just not getting this whole thing and I'm sleepy."

"Close your eyes. Breathe deep, counting to seven on the inhale," instructed Tenzin.

With a dubious expression, Korra complied.

"Hold for seven, imagine your mind as a pitcher of water, imagine pouring out the water, emptying the pitcher of all it contains," continued Tenzin. Korra counted to seven, visualizing the pitcher as he suggested. "Now breathe out for seven and repeat the cycle."

 _Pour it out_ , she ordered herself on the second round. _Pour it out._

But the glimmer of the imaginary water reminded her of the lapping of waves against her father's canoe and that reminded her of the fish they had caught and that reminded her of the fact she hadn't yet had breakfast. Her stomach grunted.

Korra slumped, eyes opening once again. She watched the dust spinning in the sunlight for a few minutes until she heard a whisper of footsteps.

Peering around, Korra spotted a tabby cat padding along the pagoda's railing. The cat jumped from the railing, landing beside Tam. It snuck into Tam's lap and began to purr.

Tam didn't move. Nor did she break from her meditative trance. Neither did anyone else; Korra seemed the only person who realized they had a newcomer.

After a few seconds, Korra leaned towards Tam and whispered, "Umm, Tam?"

"What?" hissed the younger twin.

"You - ah - you've got a cat."

"I know," Tam drawled, soft but sarcastic.

Rebuffed, Korra straightened. She eyed the cat, its purrs pervading the air yet the rest remaining oblivious, and then shrugged. Closing her eyes, she decided to see if she could sleep sitting upright.

At breakfast, Korra asked Rohan, "What was with the cat?"

"Oh that's one of Tam's cats," he replied. He offered her a basket of rolls. Korra took two.

"Tam's cats?" she repeated as she broke one roll in half. She spread it thickly with pinkberry jam.

"You really haven't seen them around the Temple?"

Mouth full, Korra shook her head no. Rohan said, "I guess they can be a bit wary of strangers, at first. You've only been here a few days."

Korra swallowed. She asked, "There's more of them?"

"Six in total."

"Why are they called Tam's cats? Are they hers?"

"Sort of." Rohan scooped up and ate the last of his eggs. "So one day about three years ago, Tam and Akira were outside for recess…"

* * *

"Do you hear that?" Tam demanded of her sister. She stopped pumping her legs and dragged her feet in the sand to halt her swinging.

"Hear what?" asked Akira, slowing her swing as well. Listening and glancing around, Akira said, "I don't see anything wrong."

Tam frowned. "You don't hear that yelling?"

"Well, yes, but it's just those _awful_ boys. I think they're in the alleyway."

"I'm going to go see what they're up to," announced Tam as she slid from the swing.

"Tam!" cried her sister, "You can't. We're not supposed to leave the schoolyard."

"They did!"

Akira checked for a teacher; the one assigned to supervise recess was busy gossiping with the lunch matron. She sprinted to catch up with her twin. "Just a quick look, Tam. Then we have to come right back. If the boys are doing something bad, we come back and get Miss Kiku."

Tam nodded absently. Darting through the gate and across the street, the twins entered the alleyway. Multi-story apartments on either side shut out most of the light. Akira's lip curled at the grime encrusting the walls. She drew her elbows in, stepping carefully to avoid mud puddles. The boys' yells echoed off the narrow walls. Akira winced.

"Tam, let's go get a teacher," Akira suggested.

"No." Tam plunged ahead, undeterred and unaffected by the darkness. A yowl pierced the air. Tam quickened her steps. "Come on!"

At the very end of the alleyway, they found the boys. They formed a half-circle, crowding around a stack of crates. Two held sticks in their hands, two held rocks, and a fifth played with a handful of fire. Close as they now where, Akira heard hisses and screeches coming from the crates.

"Come out, kitty-kitty," sing-songed the ringleader, brandishing his stick. "We won't hurt you."

They laughed. Nasty smiles flashed on their faces. Tam's hands clenched into fists.

"Tam, no, we'll get Miss Kiku, they're two years older than us -" Akira whispered. She clutched at Tam's sleeve.

"There's no time," retorted her sister. "We have to stop them now."

"Well, well, what do we have here," called the ringleader, their conversation having attracted his attention. He swagged a step forwards. "Run back to teacher, little girls."

Tam planted her feet. "Leave the cat alone."

The boys sniggered. The ringleader sneered, "What? Are you trying to tell us what to do, white eyes?"

"White eyes, white eyes, white eyes," chanted his compatriots. Akira felt her blood rise and it shoved aside her fear. She settled into her own stance, weight evenly distributed and limbs poised to move.

Tam paled. Her hands trembled. She bellowed, "I said, leave the cat alone!"

"Maybe she's stupid too as well as blind," jeered the leader. He mimed walking with his fingers and spoke slowly, "Go. Back. To. Teacher. White. Eyes. Before we make you." He punched one hand into the other.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed one of the other boys. He threw his rock at a blur of dirty tan, the cat having dared to poke its head out of its hiding place.

"No!" shouted Tam. She whirled on her heel, gathering wind, and flung. The gust slammed into the boy. He landed on his butt several feet from where he'd been standing.

"You bitch!" Ringleader in front, the boys rushed the twins.

Akira yanked at the ground. It split, ripping upwards. Two fell headfirst, faces splattering into the muck.

Yelling, the firebender shot at Tam. Tam dodged and sent him flying. Hurtling himself at them, the ringleader managed to grab Akira's hair. She screamed. Her hands flew to protect her face as he struck out at her.

Tam punched his nose. It spurted blood. He released Akira, reeling backwards. Tam followed, a blast of wind hitting him full force. His back smashed into a garbage bin.

Through tears of pain, Akira realized the first boy Tam had hit was returning along with the Firebender. "Tam!"

Tam turned. The boys faltered, but a "Are you cowards!" from the downed ringleader, wheezing and bloody, spurred them on.

Akira glanced at Tam. As one, they bent, pelting the oncoming boys with loose debris - rocks and bits of wood and whatever else littered the alleyway.

"AND STAY DOWN!" shouted Tam. She scowled at the ringleader, who had started to rise, and coiled a breeze around her arm threateningly. He subsided. To her sister, she asked, "Is the cat okay?"

Akira picked her way to the crates. She crouched. Through a space in the crates, she could see the cat, ragged and muddy yet hissing and clawing fiercely.

"She's okay - it's okay kitty, they're gone, I won't hurt you - oh!"

"What?"

Akira said solemnly, "She has kittens. That's why she didn't just run." Behind the mother, Akira counted five small balls of fur. Getting a glimpse of one face, she added, "They're really little. Their eyes aren't even open."

"AAAAHHH!"

"Tam, what -" Akira turned. The ringleader writhed, hands covering his groin.

"You're scum!" Tam shouted at him. "Worthless, filthy scum!"

With kick to his thigh, she stomped over to Akira and knelt beside her. She said, "Poor kitty. Those mean boys won't bother you again I promise."

As if the cat understood they were her protectors, the hissing and clawing faded as the twins stayed quiet and still. Cat and twins stared at each other, notwithstanding Tam's blindness.

"What color is she? And the kittens?" Tam asked.

"Light brown, I think, under the muck. I can't see the kittens very well, it's too dark, maybe brown too? Or black?" replied Akira. "The mom's really thin."

Tam fingered her sweater. Then she pulled it off.

"Tam, what are you -"

"It's almost winter. They must be cold," said Tam. She stuffed the sweater into the crates.

Cautiously, the mother cat crept to it. She sniffed it thoroughly before sinking her teeth into it and dragging it back to the kittens. One by one, she nudged the kittens onto it. They snuggled into its warmth, the mother curling around them.

"Oi! Where'd those fuckwits go?" demanded Tam. Akira turned. Sure enough, the boys had vanished.

"I don't know and that's a bad word, Tam. We're not supposed to use it," Akira reminded her sister.

"Mom does," Tam grumbled.

"There you are!" Miss Kiku's shout surprised them both. Framed in the entrance to the alleyway, she gestured furiously. "Come here this instant!"

"But -" Tam protested, waving at the crates.

"This instant!" screeched Miss Kiku. "Don't make it worse! You're in serious trouble already."

The twins stood, Tam muttering out of the corner of her mouth, "We'll come back, kitty."

They picked their way down to Miss Kiku who seized their arms. She towed them across the street, through the playground, into the main building, and to the headmaster's office. Dumping them in chairs in the outer room, she instructed, "Wait here."

She entered the inner office. Seconds later, she and the Headmaster appeared in the doorway.

"Come in and stand," he ordered them. "You may go, Miss Kiku."

Akira and Tam walked inside and stood before the desk. The Headmaster took his seat behind the desk.

"Your parents have been called. You put five students in the infirmary. This will not be tolerated," he informed them.

"But they -" blurted Tam.

"No," he cut her off, "Fighting is absolutely prohibited. When your, and their, parents arrive, you will have the chance to explain yourself before I decide punishment. Until that time, are either of you in need of medical attention?"

Tam snapped her mouth shut and folded her arms. Akira answered for them both, "No, sir."

"Then the two of you will sit _quietly_ out there -" He indicated the outer room. "-Until your parents arrive. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," replied Akira.

"Go do it."

They left his office, retaking the seats they had just vacated. A moment later, the secretary entered. Her eyes widened at seeing them, and she starred intermittently as she worked.

Akira reached for her sister's hand. They clung to each other, the ticks of the clock booming in their ears.

* * *

With a "zzzzpp", Lin retracted her cables. Having arrived first, Tenzin had chosen to wait for his wife in the courtyard before entering the school. He'd watched her sling herself down from the wires with relief.

"I think the other parents are all already here," he remarked as she joined him.

"Other parents weren't in a joint borough meeting planning how to take down a smuggling ring," Lin replied. "You know anything more?"

"No, not beyond what Headmaster Prasert said on the phone." They fell into step, ascending the short flight of steps to the double-door entrance. Tenzin opened the door and let Lin though first. "At least he said they weren't hurt."

Her mouth a thin line, Lin humphed. They traversed the corridors to the Headmaster's office. When they entered, the secretary shot to her feet.

"Where are my children?" demanded Lin.

"Inside, Chief," replied the secretary, her hands flapping. "He's expecting you."

Lin shoved the door wide, Tenzin trailing in her wake. Bodies packed the office, sitting on mismatched chairs clearly commandeered from elsewhere. To their left, five sets of parents clustered around their sons. To the right, Tam and Akira sat on chairs backed against the bookcase. Two empty seats flanked them. The Headmaster sat behind his desk. He rose upon seeing them.

"Chief Beifong, Councilman Tenzin, I appreciate you coming," he said. "If you would like to take a seat with your children -"

"I prefer to stand," interrupted Lin. She and Tenzin went over to the twins. Lin's eyes narrowed at their appearance. Tenzin frowned and knelt on one knee in front of Akira.

Turning back to the Headmaster, Lin demanded, "I thought you said they weren't hurt."

"Well - I - they said -"

"We aren't, not really, Mom," ventured Akira. "It's mostly dirt."

"Let's see," said Tenzin, handkerchief in hand. He wiped at their faces. When the dirt came off, revealing unbruised skin, he caught Lin's gaze and nodded. "It does look to be that way, Lin."

He sat, choosing the seat which placed him between his children and the rest of the room. Lin remained standing, also between her kids and the other students and parents.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Your children assaulted my son, that's what happened!" shouted one of the parents. He sprang to his feet, face ruddy and finger outstretched in accusation.

"I very much doubt that," Lin said firmly.

"You do, do you?" The man placed a hand on his son's shoulder. He declared, "Just look at him! Broken nose, bruises, what else do you call it?"

"Chief Beifong, I'm sorry to say this, but it seems as if your daughters attacked Junren and his friends at recess. The five of them had to see the school healer afterwards," explained the Headmaster. He continued quickly, before Lin could respond, "I did promise them a chance to explain themselves when you arrived. However, our policies do expressly forbid fighting and -"

Tenzin interrupted this time. "Then let's give them that chance. I can't believe my children would attack someone without a very, very good reason."

"So Akira, Tam, start explaining," Lin ordered. The girls hesitated. Tam focused her clouded eyes on nothing, stonily silent, while Akira stared at the wood grain of the flooring.

"Akira, Tam," Tenzin said gently, "We're listening. You need to tell us what happened."

Akira squeezed her twin's hand, then spoke. She directed her words to her father, who shifted his body to shield her from the gazes of the other parents and students.

"We were on the swings, at recess, and Tam heard something. We...investigated and they were trying to hurt a cat. They had stones and sticks and one of them is a firebender and they had her surrounded - she was hiding in a bunch of crates - and they were going to hurt her and we couldn't let them. Tam told them to stop, but they didn't. They threw a rock at her. Tam used airbending against that boy, she didn't hurt him, not really, just forced him away, but then they all attacked us."

"We were defending ourselves," added Tam curtly. "And the cat."

"They're lying!" squealed the ringleader. "They attacked us! We weren't doing nothing wrong!"

His friends chimed in. "That's right!" "They came after us!" "They're liars!" "There was no cat, they just started in on us!"

"Enough," Lin barked. The boys quailed. "My children do not lie. They do not start fights."

"Are you calling my son a liar?" demanded the ringleader's father. "The way I see it, there's five of them saying it happened one way and your two saying it didn't. Besides, my son is a good boy. He wouldn't hurt anyone."

The remaining parents echoed his statements, mothers and fathers claiming their sons were model students who wouldn't hurt a butterfly. Lin didn't respond but her hands flexed. Seeing that, Tenzin rose hurriedly to stand beside his wife.

Addressing the Headmaster, the ringleader's father protested, "My son comes from distinguished noble Huyan line of Ba Sing Se, I'm the Queen's own ambassador. It's impossible for him to have done what those two _girls_ claim he did. By the Face Eater, they kept hitting him when he was already on the ground!"

"Akira? Tam?" asked Lin. "Is this true?"

Akira squirmed. Tam stuck out her chin and said, "Yes."

"What I have I always said?" Lin demanded.

"Kick'em in the nuts until they cry," replied Tam, "So they can't get up and come after you."

Tenzin emitted a strangled sound. Excepting him, the males in the room winced, their hands twitching towards their privates as if to protect them. Lin sighed, torn between grudging amusement and parental disapproval.

"Not that, what do I say about hitting people when they're already down?"

"Don't do it," mumbled Tam.

"Right. Why _did_ you do it?"

"She had kittens," Tam answered.

"See, she admits she did it!" shouted the Ambassador. "She's probably lying about the cat to get out of trouble."

"I believe my daughters," Tenzin declared. "Perhaps there is some way we can prove the truth?"

"How do you expect to do that?" demanded the Ambassador. He laughed harshly. "Chase after an imaginary cat?"

"She's not imaginary!" growled Tam. "We can show her to you!"

"I think that will do quite nicely," said Tenzin.

"Not everyone," Akira piped up. "It'll scare her."

In a tone of pure steel, Lin ordered, "Fine. Headmaster, you, Tenzin, me, the twins, the _Ambassador_ and -" She considered the remaining parents and picked the most sensible-looking, and thus far quietest, one. "You. Let's go."

The group trooped out of the office, out of the school, and across the street. Lin snorted in derision as the Ambassador balked when he realized they would have to walk down the alleyway. When they continued, he had no choice except to do the same.

At the crates, Akira directed them to the hole through which they could view the mother cat and kittens. She yowled and spit when the Headmaster and Ambassador took their turns.

"Satisfied?" demanded Lin of the Ambassador.

He clenched his jaw. He replied loudly, "They - they could have known the cat was here and made up a good story. I wouldn't put it past girls like that!"

Tenzin gripped Lin's arm. Her muscles were as taut as a drawn bowstring. Her eyes had grown hard.

"Don't," he murmured to her. Her gaze flicked to him. "He's not worth it. Whatever he says."

Raising his voice, Tenzin said, "May I ask what you mean, 'girls like that'?"

"Well - they're - they're unnatural. What sort of proper girls can beat up five boys older and bigger than they are? It's just not right," spat the Ambassador. "No proper young lady would behave that way."

"Ambassador," Lin's words cut like a knife, "I suggest you shut your ignorant mouth. Now."

Blood drained from his face. Lin stepped towards him; he stumbled backwards.

She continued, "My daughters are exactly what they should be. They protected a defenseless animal and her young against your bully of a son and his cronies. We have laws against that sort of cruelty here in Republic City. At the moment, I'd be more than pleased to arrest your son. Unless I'm assured you will make damned sure he never causes _any_ trouble again."

"You - you can't. He's a child - and I have diplomatic immunity," stammered the Ambassador. "So does he."

"There are ways to remove that immunity," Tenzin reminded him coldly.

"And it doesn't apply to the other four boys," Lin said, addressing the second parent. He blanched. "If they continue to lie..."

"I - he'll - I'll see that he tells the truth, ma'am," replied the second parent.

"Good."

"Headmaster, how are you planning to handle this?" Tenzin asked.

"You must understand, I can't permit fighting. Even for a justifiable cause," managed the Headmaster. Evidently thinking fast, he said, "Everyone involved will have to be suspended."

"Very well. For how long?" asked Tenzin.

"For your twins…three day. For the boys…" The Headmaster looked from Tenzin to the Ambassador to Lin. Her expression told him she wouldn't allow him to let the boys off easy. He gulped and declared, "Two weeks. Detention until the end of term."

"That's fair enough," Tenzin agreed. He looked down at his daughters who hung their heads and made no protest.

"You can go," Lin commanded. The Headmaster and two parents hurried away. She caught Akira's gaze and lightly grasped Tam's chin. "You're going to spend the next three days helping in the gardens and doing whatever else needs doing around the temple."

"Yes, Mom," they chorused.

Tenzin said, "I'll whistle for Oogi and take them home."

"All right." Lin released Tam's chin. "I have to get back to work. We'll talk more when I get home."

"But what about them!" demanded Tam, pointing to the crates.

"We can't leave them here," Akira insisted. "The mom's so thin and it gets so cold at night."

"Let me guess, you want to take them home?" Lin asked.

"Please, Mom, please Daddy," entreated Akira.

Tam pleaded, "Please. Someone else might hurt them."

Lin exchanged a look with Tenzin. He sighed and smiled a little, ruefully. "They did save them, Lin. We can't abandon them now."

Surrounded by their united imploring, Lin threw up her hands. "Fine. But you're going to be responsible for them."

"We promise, Mommy, thank you," blurted Akira, hugging Lin.

"We're take good care of you," Tam said solemnly, crouching and directing her words into the crates. A meow answered her.

Lin fished a ten-yuan note from her pocket. "Come on, Akira, I saw a bakery four doors down. Maybe they'll be willing to sell us a basket to carry your new pets."

Basket obtained, the two returned to discover Tam had coaxed the mother into permitting her to pet the kittens. Crates had been shifted to enlarge the opening into the den.

"So that's where your sweater went," said Lin. Using rags from the basket, she wrapped Tam's hands thoroughly. "She seems to trust you which is why you're going to move the kittens. These will keep her from scratching you. Who knows what's on her claws."

Under a watchful eye and warning growls, Tam transferred the kittens to the basket, lined with more rags. When she laid down the fifth and final baby, the mother climbed in and curled around them. Tam layered the sweater on top of them.

"I'll carry the basket," offered Tenzin.

"No, I've got it," countered Tam.

"Are you sure? It looks heavy."

"No. It's fine," Tam insisted.

They looked up as a bison bayed. Oogi landed in the street. The family walked towards him, Tam careful to keep the basket level and not to bump into anything.

With Akira earthbending stairs, Tam was able to ascend to his back without risking her precious bundle. Akira followed. Lin stomped once to retract the stairs into the ground.

To Tenzin, she said, "I'll be late. Don't hold dinner."

"Okay. Make sure you get something to eat Lin," he pressed her.

"I will," she replied. She glanced at the twins, both focused on the basket. "I'll pick up some meat for them on my way home. You can make do with milk and egg until then."

She caught Tenzin's fond expression. Lin snapped, "I'm not being sweet. It's just common sense."

"Of course," he responded teasingly, "Because Chief Beifong is never, ever sweet."

"Get on with you," she retorted with a shove to his shoulder in direction of Oogi. Tenzin smiled, swooped in to kiss her cheek, and leaped onto Oogi before she could react.

"Try not to work too late," he said. Hands on hips, Lin scowled at him. Tenzin kept smiling. "Yip, yip, Oogi!"

Lin huffed. When they had flown beyond her view, she latched a cable onto the wires overhead. Using their network, running from building to building and pole to pole, she transported herself back to work.

* * *

"At first, they lived in Tam's closet," said Rohan. "When they grew up, they got free rein of the Temple. Ended up being pretty good mousers to boot."

"No one minds?" Korra asked.

"No, not really," replied Rohan. "A lot of the acolytes like having them around."

"Do you think they'll let me see them now?"

"Probably." Rohan suggested, "You can always ask Tam to introduce you. At least two of them always sleep with her - although it's never the same two in a row."

"Rohan, if you don't move it, you're going to be late for school," called Lin, rising from table. The twins were stacking their dishes. Rohan stuffed a last sausage link into his mouth.

"I'm hurrying," he garbled while chewing.

"Don't you have any manners?" demanded Akira, disgusted at the display. Rohan swallowed.

"Nope!"

The twins, Rohan, and their mother dumped their dishes in the kitchen before departing with goodbyes to Tenzin and Korra.

"Take your time, Korra. I have a couple of phone calls to make," Tenzin told her when they had gone. "I'll meet you in the practice grounds in an hour."

"Sure," said Korra. He left, and Korra stretched out her legs. She snagged the lone remaining rice cake.

A flicker of brown at the corner of her eye had her pausing mid-bite. A chubby tomcat snunk into the room and hopped up onto the table.

"Well hello," said Korra.

"Meow."

Creeping forward, the cat licked the sausage plate, eating little tidbits leftover.

Korra ventured to pet him, resulting in loud purrs. Once satisfied the plate was clean, he padded to her and jumped into her lap.

"Not scared of me anymore?"

"Meow." The cat butted her hand.

"Pets it is then," Korra said, stroking him. His purr rumbled, and Korra settled in for the duration.


End file.
